Open science is a concept of scientific research work based on transparency, collaboration and the sharing of scientific research results within the research community and the general public. It encourages cooperation within the research community and dialogue with the wider public. Open science concerns all scientific disciplines and fields, as well as all types of research, from fundamental to applied. It encompasses various aspects of scientific research work, such as open access to research results, open scientific communication, open scientific infrastructures, open collaboration of all social actors, and more broadly, the evaluation and assessment of scientific research work according to the principles of open science, as well as open collaboration with other knowledge systems (Bezjak et al., Meet FAIR, 2024, CC BY).

Principles such as transparency, rigour, criticality, reproducibility, equality of opportunity, accountability, respect, collaboration, participation and inclusion, flexibility, and sustainability or sustainability are well established in certain research fields and in many research communities and are a guarantee of quality and scientific excellence. Open science policies have increased the chances that open science principles can be implemented wherever research will be publicly funded (Bezjak et al., Meet FAIR, 2024, CC BY).

The implementation of open science in Slovenia is carried out in three steps.

The first step is the reform of the European Research Area (ERA) and the signing of the A Pact for Research and Innovation in Europe.

Slovenia is a member of the ERA. In March 2022, the European Commission adopted the A Pact for Research and Innovation in Europe. The Pact defines 10 common values and principles that guide research and innovation in Europe and its cooperation with the rest of the world. The ERA Common Policy further defines 20 concrete actions contributing to the objectives set out in the Pact over the period 2022-2024. These include three actions directly related to the conduct of research in an open science framework:

1. Introducing open science, including through the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).
2. A draft European Union legislative framework for copyright and data law in science.
3. Reforming the system for evaluating research, researchers and institutions.

The common denominator of policies at different levels in the ERA is rapid and open access to all research results generated by publicly funded scientific research in a way that allows reuse and reproducibility of research results (accessibility of research results according to the FAIR principles (findability, accessibility, interoperability, reusability)) and public involvement in scientific research processes.

The second step in the implementation of open science in Slovenia was the adoption of national legislation aligned with the principles of ERA science policies.

In 2021, the government of the Republic of Slovenia adopted Scientific Research and Innovation Activity Act (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No.186/21, 40/23, 102/24 and 40/25) (hereafter: the "OSSR"). The OSSR sets out national principles for open science in Articles 40 (defining open science), 41 and 42.

The implementing act of the Open Science Act is Decree on the Implementation of Scientific Research Work in Accordance with the Principles of Open Science (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 59/23 and 39/25) (hereinafter: the Regulation).

The Decree provides for the conduct of scientific research activities in accordance with the principles of open science, with regard to:

• Open access to the results of research co-funded by public sources of at least 50 %.
• Involving the interested public in scientific research.
• Evaluating and assessing researchers, research organisations, research programmes and projects in line with the principles of open science.
• Open science infrastructure.

Responsible handling of research data according to the FAIR Principles also requires Act amending and supplementing the Public Information Access Act (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 141/22), which transposed into Slovenian law the recast Directive (EU) 2019/1024 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on open data and re-use of public sector information.

The third step in the implementation of open science in Slovenia is the implementation of the principles of open science in the activities of Slovenian research organisations. The strategic framework for the implementation of the principles of open science in the Slovenian academic environment is presented by Resolution on the Slovenian Scientific Research and Innovation Strategy 2030 (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 49/22) (hereinafter: ReZrIS30), which was adopted by the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia in 2022. ReZrIS30 under Objective 6.2: Open Science to improve the quality, efficiency, and responsiveness of research, foresees a number of specific actions that, at the implementation level, enable the fulfilment of the requirements of the legislation, such as, for example, managing and funding the development of a national open science infrastructure, introducing modern approaches to the evaluation of scientific research activities in line with the principles of open science, ensuring the compliance of the results of scientific research with the FAIR principles, establishing a national open science community, promoting the development of a national scientific publishing activity to operate according to the principles of open science, promoting the development of citizen science, and engaging the general public in the scientific research activity.